The Mentalist Season 2 Episode 20 - Red All Over

The Mentalist Season 2 Episode 20 - Red All Over

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Date watched: 6/20/2015

My rating: 6/10

The count of times I have seen this at time of this review: 1st

Likelihood that I will watch this episode again: Uncertain

I classify this as a cop drama with the super expert twist (similar to Monk, Psych, and Sherlock)

A powerful media mogul is celebrating a promotion his son has received in his company, when he stumbles out and collapses dead...and murdered!

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This episode reminds me of the A&E production of Who Murdered Roger Akroyd, with David Suchet as Poirot. Perhaps it is because the murder weapon is a letter opener. In any event, that warms me a bit to the episode. In fact, Agatha Christie stories are pretty much my benchmark for mysteries and detection work (with the possible exception of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). 

For the first time in awhile, the suspect wasn't quite who I thought it was until later in the show. In fact, I called out a perky assistant as the murder when she appeared, but she never showed up again. 

Jane throws down with a cultist leader, which appears promising for future interaction, and as a new recurring villain maybe? We don't have much of that currently, except for the elusive Red John. Anyone connected to Red John has been systematically eliminated.

Only Jane and Lisbon have big roles in this show. Lisbon saves a little girl (and herself) from being blown up by a bomb completely by luck. Speaking of luck, Jane lectures the media mogul (who also turns out to be the murderer) about luck. I seemed to me that the lines should have been reversed in that conversation - they were playing backgammon and the mogul rolls a 12. He claims that it was skill, and all in the wrist. As someone who does those kinds of things routinely, I found Jane's responses a bit out of character (and it wasn't really cleared up later in the episode as these kinds of things have been before). Only the slight of hand trick references to it, but I don't see a direct connection that was made.

The episode was entertaining enough. Jane gets slapped by an angry woman and the mogul gets brought down by a series of tricks.

The Mentalist Season 2 Episode 19 - Blood Money

The Mentalist Season 2 Episode 19 - Blood Money

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Date watched: 6/17/2015

My rating: 6/10

The count of times I have seen this at time of this review: 1st

Likelihood that I will watch this episode again: Uncertain

I classify this as a cop drama with the super expert twist (similar to Monk, Psych, and Sherlock)

The team hunts down an apparent serial killer and the aftermath of Van Pelt and Rigsby relationship after the breakup at the end of Episode 18. 

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This episode started out with what appeared to be a big twist in the story line, with Van Pelt ordering a hit on Rigsby. This turns out to be a flash forward in the show, and Van Pelt is actually setting up the killer. This fooled me for a little bit, but I believe it would have been completely out of character for what had been established for Van Pelt, so I am glad that they didn't really go this direction. 

This episode establishes the feedback that Jane has built up in the many other episodes. After capturing the killer, a hearing occurs and in it, it is revealed that Jane had broken into the killers home and left a mug with his finger prints. This leads the hearing to be canceled, and the assistant DA, who was prosecuting the case, is very upset with Jane. Also, Lisbon appears to be upset with Jane. This leads to Hightower suspending Lisbon for a few days. The rest of the team is pretty peeved with Jane, especially Cho. For the most part in past episodes, Jane seems to get away with a lot of antics, without much repercussion. This episode shows some of that repercussion, but as it turns out, the assistant DA was working his own angle, and so his derision isn't quite as pure as it sounded before. 

There is an interesting interaction with a gang that is involved with the killings to some extent (I didn't really pickup on it very well in my watching). Jane reveals that a "senile" mom is actually the brains behind the outfit. Jane does his smarmy "I'm so clever routine", but this time it leads to Lisbon and him being captured and locked in a storage container. Jane had called Lisbon in for assistance, and she reluctantly agreed to help, after Jane trumps her arguments to not assist (as she was still on probation). 

There are some clever bits with Jane deducing that the assistant DA was responsible for the initial murder (who was also in the DA's office and scheduled to become the DA). The assistant DA kills the killer when he is picked up again. Jane traps the assistant DA into bringing Jane in for a hearing, when Jane commits battery on him, by tweaking his nose. This allows Jane do his reveal to the Judge. 

Jane is given lots of latitude for shenanigans, as usual. One thing in particular that doesn't ring true for me is the accused always spilling their guts without their lawyer present. I know that this is needed for good TV, and to tie up loose ends in episodes, but it is still a bit too perfect. 

I enjoyed this episode and found the twists and turns to be fun. 

The Mentalist Season 2 Episode 18 - Aingavite Baa

The Mentalist Season 2 Episode 18 - Aingavite Baa

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Date watched: 6/14/2015

My rating: 5/10

The count of times I have seen this at time of this review: 1st

Likelihood that I will watch this episode again: Uncertain

I classify this as a cop drama with the super expert twist (similar to Monk, Psych, and Sherlock)

A somewhat familiar trope of mystery and cop shows: a amnesic victim that slowly develops the story with their memory. Also includes further development of Rigsby and Van Pelt's relationship, and the triangle relationship between new boss Hightower, Jane, and Lisbon.

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This episode houses one of my biggest pet peeves of series television. That is, the commitment to a core group of characters. There are threats of characters leaving or changing, but this either falls through, or the character disappears forever (being written out of the show). The 800 pound gorilla in the room is contracted actors with the buy-in from the audience. This greatly limits the natural flow of story, and character development. Characters are not allowed to flow like they normally would in real life - of course, interesting plots and events occur at a much higher rate then they do in normal life as well, which is why we watch in the first place. Some series television have "done better" with this issue, in my opinion. The best example I have off the top of my head is Lost, which killed off (or wandered off story) several major characters over the course of the show.

The main plot of this episode is the discovery of an intended murder victim. This victim was thought to have been killed by the killer, but wasn't and is found wandering around with amnesia. This allows Jane to ply his trade of hypnotism and other mental tricks throughout the episode. I mentioned in my review of S2E17 that Jane is usually spot on with his observations (or if he isn't, it was planned as a ploy of some kind). There is a small incident where he accuses a man and then admits he was wrong; it is unclear if he was simply guessing (although guessing is brought up in another context about his techniques in this episode), or if it was a ploy to get more information.

I found the amnesia plot to be standard stuff, nothing spectacular. There were a few red herrings in the show, such as a marijuana farm and being shot at by one of the farmers. Also, as I discussed in S2E17, the murderer is a somewhat sympathetic person introduced earlier in the show. He is a cheerful souvenir salesman, who makes a profit on the Indian "relic" trade, and unconcerned as the things he sells aren't really a part of his heritage. There seems to be some material there, but probably not for a 40 minute episode where that is not really the main focus - it is rather that this peddler has been engaging in unseemly trade with a producer of toxic waste, and has been dumping it in reservation water for a lot of cash.

For some reason, the reveal of dumping waste for cash seemed a bit weak to me. Maybe it is because the murder did in fact commit premeditated murder, but then his character did not have any of the traits of someone that would do that - there is an apology scene that comes off as some kind of weak joke.

My first paragraph above talks about character movement, and it is addressed towards the relationship development of Rigsby and Van Pelt. First of all, we know that either they won't break up officially (which would mean that one would be written out of the series), or that they do officially, but unofficially they still have the secret flame, which will bring about many other plots in future stories. For me, this is where this relationship "jumped the shark"; in earlier episodes they dealt with this impossible tension, as the characters struggled with the attraction, gave in, confessed, and then fought each other with the fallout. Lisbon temporarily let them off the hook, be we were given the impression that the relationship was on the rocks because of things said. Then, last episode they quickly reconciled (I wrote about that as well). I liked how Rigsby was going to leave, but then Van Pelt comes in and says she can't have him leaving, as he will come to hate her for this. Well, maybe in a shallow relationship, but in a real relationship they would work out these issues. Of course, in almost all TV relationships, sexual intimacy is a given and marriage is rarely discussed, except as some great plot point to work towards.

So, overall, this episode left me rather luke-warm.

The Mentalist Season 2 Episode 17 - The Red Box

The Mentalist Season 2 Episode 17 - The Red Box

Non-spoiler information

Date watched: 6/11/2015

My rating: 6/10

The count of times I have seen this at time of this review: 1st

Likelihood that I will watch this episode again: Uncertain

I classify this as a cop drama with the super expert twist (similar to Monk, Psych, and Sherlock)

This episode develops the relationship between Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon. We also return after several episodes to the romantic relationship between Wayne Rigsby and Grace Van Pelt.

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I found this episode of the Mentalist to be marginally better then the others as a whole - that doesn't mean that I found it to be the best episode, just that I enjoyed it more then the sum of all episodes that I have seen so far.

Jane has a constant teasing rapport with agent Lisbon. Much of this is Jane making some observation, and then Lisbon denying that it is true. We, as the audience, fully believe that Jane has made a correct observation, as that is what Jane does. Contrasting this with the somewhat similar Psych, Shawn would make observations initially that were increasingly off base. He comes across as immature, goofy, but ultimately successful. So far in the series, Jane is correct about almost all of his observations - when he is not, it has been trivial. This makes him seem to be a super human, that is infallible, at least in the art of observation and deduction. The show makes up for this by presenting Jane as both equal parts charming and arrogant, which does quite a bit to reduce how insufferable he can be perceived. Again in contrast, Sherlock Holmes in his various film incarnations is arrogant and aloof.

One flaw that I have noticed so far in this series, and that occurs in this episode, is that the nice, interesting character turns out to be the villain. This happened with Rigsby's friend this time, who established the buddy relationship early on, only to turn out to be both the murderer and a rogue. Another contrast is with Agatha Christie - the annoying, arrogant characters in her novels are usually the murder victim, not a red herring suspect as they so often are in this show.

Another development is the introduction of a superior for Agent Lisbon. We have been waiting for this for several episodes, since her previous superior retired. So far, the new superior is charismatic, with the authority driven home whenever there is an opportunity. It remains to be seen how the screen chemistry will work for her. Lisbon definitely appears to be cowed by her. In fact, as word about Lisbon (or more accurately actress Robin Tunney) - she is well cast for this show. She is usually low key with her emotions. She cares about her team and often appears to be wondering what in the heck they are doing, especially Jane. Her facial expressions and the way she tilts her face as she observes Jane's antics are part of why I really enjoy this show.

Finally, we have the return of the romantic relationship of Wayne and Grace. The chill that had been building up is present at first, but then they break through into flirting and warmth towards each other again. Perhaps if this could have been developed a bit more through a few episodes, it would have felt a bit more real to me. Just to throw it in Lisbon's craw, her superior almost immediately detects the relationship and calls her on it. The boss is starting to seem almost as omniscient as Jane himself, which Jane comments on at the end of the episode.